Unloading-type hand truck



June 10, 1958 P. B. STATTON 2,838,193

UNLOADING-TYPE HAND TRUCK Filed Sept. 11, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Perry 3 Station 14. Attorneys June 10, 1958 P. B. STATTQN I 2,838,193

UNLOADING-TYPE HAND TRUCK Filed Sept. 11, 1956 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ."2 INVENTOIL /9 Perry BSioHon :20 l

@H HAM Attorneys United. States PatentO 2,838,193 UNLOADING-TYPE HANDf TRUCK Perry B. Statton, Ellensbur g, Wash. g 7 Application September 11, 1956, Serial No. 609,237 4 Claims. (Cl. 214-511) This invention relates to two-wheeled hand trucks of that type in which there is provided a plate mounted for reciprocal fore-andsaft movement along the face of the trucks loading tongue and which pushes against cartons,' boxes, kegs or other like or suitable loads carried upon the tongue when it is desired to unload the truck. Numerous hand trucks of this general character have been heretofore devised but the same have in most instances been rather cumbersome and have not operated with thedegree of ease which truckers demand.

The general object of the present invention is to provide an unloading-type hand truck, namely one having a push-plate working along the face of the load-sustaining tongue, improved over previously existing unloading-type hand trucks in the sense that the leverage responsible for unloading the tongue is more effectively applied, giving a maximum moment at the onset of an unloading operation when the resistance imposed by the load is perforce greatest.

With the foregoing general object in view and'further aiming to improve the design and otherwise perfect a hand truck of the nature described, the invention consists in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating one embodiment of a hand truck constructed in accordance withthe preferred teachings of the present invention, here illustrated with the activating foot lever in an inoperative jackknifed condition.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional, view thereof drawn to a larger scale and showing the foot lever in the stiff-arm condition which it normally assumes.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view detailing the construction of the foot lever' and portraying, by full and broken lines, respectively, the jack-knifed and stiff-arm positions of the component parts.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view illustrating a modified lever arrangement; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary rear elevational viewof said modificatiom The hand truck of the presentinvention is or may be conventional to the'extent thafthere is provided a frame of a generally rectangular plan configuration comprised of a stock member 10, sectionally of a channel shape, bent to an inverted-U shape to produce upright side pieces 11-32 joined at the top by a head piece 13, and at the lower end presenting a rigid loading tongue 14 extending forwardly from the pieces 11 and 12 at an angle of approximately 90". At each side the frame presents a belly. truss 15 directed rearwardly in the longitudinal vertical plane of the respective pieces 11 and 12, and at or about the head limit of these trusses there is provided a cross-harm. An axle 17 traverses the two trusses at the approximate apex thereof. Wheels 18 are journaled on the axle. I

According to the present invention, and first describing the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, there is provided a transverse push-plate 20 disposed on-edge upon the tongue and arranged for fore-and-aft reciprocal motion from the advanced to the retracted positions shown by broken and full lines, respectively, inFig. 2. The rear limit of the push-plates retracted travel is prescribed by' stops 21, and when so retracted the front face of the plate is recessed well behind a transverse vertical plane common to the front edge of the two side pieces. The significance of such recession is that there is provided a cup-shaped pocket so that a keg of beer, this being the pack for which the truck is particularly designed, will be held against lateral displacement upon the loading tongue. 4

For activating the push-plate the same connects by links 22 to the lower ends of a pair of parallel lever arms 23 having their upper ends welded or otherwise fixedly secured to a transverse shaft 24 carried for pivotal movement by struts 25 of the belly trusses 15. At the substantial center of the pivot shaft there is welded or other wise secured thereto a foot-actuated lever 26. The levers 23 and 26 constitute a substantiai right-angled bell-crank, and the geometry of said bell-crank and the links 22 is such that the foot lever operates through somewhat more than a 45 swing through an arc of motion having its median point located more or less horizontal, the significance being that the greatest leverage moment as the foot of the operator presses vertically downwardly upon the lever 26 occurs at the very outset of an unloading operation when the load, being stationary, is most resistant to change of position. 7

Considering that the truck, an occasion, is wheeled over the edge of loading platforms, steps and the like and that the foot lever, when occupying the operating position shown by full lines in Fig. 2, would constitute an obstruction, the same is knuckle-jointed, permitting the free end of the lever to be jack-knifed upwardly in such a degree that the operator may freely ride the descending truck along the sloping legs 27 of the trusses 15. Designated by 28, the free section of such knuckle-jointed lever has a furcate inner end 30 which straddles the root section 31 and is pivoted, as at 32, thereto, and upon the underside of such furcate end there is provided a spanner bar 33 which bears upon the underside of the root section when the two lever sections are brought in to an in-line position. The foot lever is further characterized in that there is provided a means for releasably locking the two sections in suchin-line position, such means comprising a latch 34 pivotally carried by the free section 28 in the.

slot ofthe forked end and adapted to be moved into and out of hooking engagement under the outer end of the root section 31. A spring 35 engaging the latch performs the multi-fold function of (l) yieldingly holding the latch in hookingengagement with the'root section 31, (2) jack-knifing the foot lever when the latch is unhooked, and (3 raisingthe foot lever proper about the center of'the shaft 24 'as'anaxis when the stiff-arm components of the foot lever are in their normal in-line position. It will be apparent that the latch is readily released by the simple expedient of drawing the exposed toe of the latch in a rearward direction, and that the same again automatically latches itself by pushing the free section 28 downwardly. The significance of normally maintaining thefoot lever as a stiff arm is that a light spring, which it is desirable to use in that the same imposes little resistance to an unloading operation, may on occasion fail to fully retract the push-plate. A stiff-arm foot-lever ad-' mits of being'nudged upwardly with the foot to complete response to the arcuate travel of the foot-lever as an unloading operation is being performed.

in Figs. 4 and 5 I have illustrated a somewhat mod'itied lever 36 bent to the shape of an oxbow with the side arms pivoted, as at 37, directly to the side pieces 11-12 of the frame, and having downward prolongations 38 of the side arms pivoted, as at 39, to links 40' which engage the push-plate. Viewed in side elevation, the downward prolongations 38 lie approximately at right angles to the plane occupied by the bowed section 36. Springs 40 con ncct by one of their ends to the side arms of the bowed section and have their other ends anchored to the side pieces of the truck frame.

The invention and the manner of its operation will, it is thought, have been clearly understood from the foregoing description of my now-preferred illustrated embodiments. Minor changes in the details of construction will suggest themselves and may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim, is:

1. A hand truck providing a frame having transversely spaced side pieces each stiffened by a respective and identical rearwardly directed belly truss having its apex located adjacent to' but spaced above the lower end of the frame, an axle traversing said apices of the belly trusses and projecting by each of its ends beyond the latter, wheels journaled on said axle ends, a loading tongue made rigid with the frame and extending forwardly therefrom at the lower end of the frame, a transversely disposed unloading plate bearing on-edge upon the tongue and adapted for fore-and-aft reciprocal motion, a transverse horizontal shaft journaled from the frame for pivot movements about a fixed axis spaced above and somewhat to the front of the axle, a pair of parallel lever arms each fixed to said pivot arm in proximity of a related said side piece of the frame and pointing in a general downward direction with its free end linked to the unloading plate, and a complementing lever arm fixed to said pivot shaft at the approximate center thereof, transversely considered, with its free end pointing in a general rearward direction and serving as a foot lever, said last-named lever arm admitting to an approximate 90 swing with the geometry being such that the arcuate path travelled by the free end thereof is of approximate equal extent above and below a horizontal plane traversing the center of the pivot shaft.

2. A hand truck according to claim 1 in which the foot lever is knuckle-jointed in a manner permitting the free end to jack-knife in an upward direction into an out-of-the-way position, and having releasable means locking the two sections of said knuckle-jointed lever against jack-knifing so as normally to maintain the lever in a stiff-arm condition.

3. A hand truck providing a frame, an axle carried by the frame at the lower end thereof, wheels journaled on the ends of said axle, a loading tongue made rigid with the frame and extending forwardly therefrom at the lower end of the frame, a transversely disposed unloading plate bearing on-edge upon the tongue and adapted for fore-and-aft reciprocal motion, and a bellcrank carried by the frame for pivot movements about an axis spaced above and somewhat to the front of the axle, said bell-crank having one of the two arms thereof pointing in a general downward direction with its free end linked to the unloading plate and having the other of the two arms pointing in a general rearward direction and serving as a foot lever, said foot lever being knucklejointed in a manner permitting the free end to jack-knife in an upward direction into an out-of-the-way position, releasable means being provided lockingthe two sections of said knuckle-jointed lever against jack-knifing so as normally to maintain the lever in a stiff-arm condition, the outer section of the foot lever, to provide said knuckle-joint, having a furcate inner end which straddles the outer end of the inner section and is pivoted thereto, said locking means comprising a latch pivotally mounted between the fork-arms of said furcate inner end of the outer section and arranged for swinging movement into and out of a position whereat the same hooks over the outer end of the inner section, a spring being provided engaging said latch and characterized in that the same yieldingly holds the latch in its said hooking position and also acts through the latch to yieldingly lift the foot lever when the same is in a stiff-arm condition and to jack-knife the two sections when the latch is unhooked from the inner section.

4. A hand truck for use in the trucking of beer kegs, a frame, an axle carried by the frame at the lower end thereof, wheels journaled on the ends of said axle, a loading tongue made rigid with the frame and extending forwardly therefrom at the lower end of the frame, a transversely disposed unloading plate bearing onedge upon the tongue and adapted for fore-and-aft reciprocal motion, and a bell-crank carried by the frame for pivot movements about an axis spaced above and somewhat tothe front of the axle, said bell-crank having one of the two arms thereof pointing in a general downward direction with its free end linked to the unloading plate and having the other of the two arms pointing in a general rearward direction and serving as a foot lever,.said frame including a vertical stock piece at each side with the spacing therebetween being substantially less than the diameter of the beer kegs, the unloading plate being characterized in that the same moves at its rear limit of travel into a retracted position recessed well behind a plane common to the front edges of the two stock pieces so that the back wall of the keg when the same is carried upon the truck takes a center bearing against the plate and side bearings against each of the two stock pieces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,542,023 Alexander June 16, 1925 1,710,893 Phillips Apr. 30, 1929 2,406,158 Newport Aug. 20, 1946 2,452,258 Nielsen Oct. 26, 1948 2,649,219 Nielsen Aug. 18, 1953 

